Women Managers Make Greener Business Decisions

A new battlefront has opened on the struggle for equal employment opportunities for women:

Female decision makers are more environmentally-conscious than males.

This is the conclusion of the first of an annual series of surveys to benchmark green business technology purchasing trends in the U.S., conducted by Hansa-GCR under the sponsorship of several companies, including Xerox. The survey also concludes:

Green has arrived as a business issue.

"Green" is good for business and imageThe survey found that 64% of respondents agree with the statement that being perceived as green helps their brand. Only 9% disagreed (we'd like to meet those managers!) While that may come as no surprise, the reassuring finding in this study is that decision makers valued real actions over mere commitment to action. It is no longer sufficient to have a "commitment to product stewardship". Responsible managers put emphasis on

supporting conservation and recycling,

offering environmentally conscious products, and

carbon footprint reduction.

52% believe that their supply chain's environmental impact is part of their own impact.

No recognized industry leaders among tech companies"None" and "other" win the awards for the technology companies that first come to mind as green leaders. In a similar vein, no green organization (such as greenpeace, wwf, nature conservancy, leed, etc) scored as a real leader in "relevance and leadership on green or environmental issues in technology".